The 10-year Treasury yield sits at 4.26% and the Fed funds rate has been held at 3.75% for more than four months. For income-focused investors, that backdrop presents a real problem: savings accounts and short-duration bonds offer yields that barely keep pace with inflation, while core PCE has continued its steady climb, reaching 128.86 as of February 2026. Earned income alone cannot close that gap for most households.
High-yield dividend stocks offer a different path. Unlike rental real estate, which ties up capital, demands active management, and carries illiquidity risk, publicly traded dividend payers can be bought and sold in seconds. They generate cash flow whether markets are calm or chaotic, and that income compounds powerfully when reinvested. The six stocks below span net lease REITs, a mortgage REIT, and a business development company, each structured to distribute the majority of their income directly to shareholders.
We screened our 24/7 Wall St. dividend equity research database and found a collection of companies that, combined, can generate over $4,000 a year in passive annual income if you invest just $10,000 in each stock at the time of this writing.
STAG Industrial
- Yield: 3.79%
- Annual Passive Income: $379
STAG Industrial (NYSE:STAG | STAG Price Prediction) is a net lease REIT focused on single-tenant industrial properties across the United States, including warehouses, distribution centers, and light manufacturing facilities. The company reported quarterly revenue growth of 10.8% year over year, and institutional investors hold approximately 92.4% of shares outstanding.
Portfolio occupancy stands at 97.2%, and the REIT structure requires distributing at least 90% of taxable income, which structurally supports the monthly dividend. The current monthly dividend is $0.124 per share, reflecting incremental growth from $0.121 in 2022.
Agree Realty
- Yield: 4.06%
- Annual Passive Income: $406
Agree Realty (NYSE:ADC) is a net lease REIT built around essential retail tenants with strong credit profiles. Its 2,756 properties span all 50 states with 99.7% occupancy, and 65.4% of tenants carry investment-grade credit ratings.
The April 2026 monthly dividend was raised to $0.267 per share, up from $0.262 in prior months, a 4.3% year-over-year increase. Q1 2026 AFFO per share came in at $1.14, up 7.9% year over year, and full-year 2026 AFFO guidance stands at $4.54 to $4.58 per share. Institutional ownership stands at 110.9%, reflecting heavy index fund accumulation of the shares.
Realty Income
- Yield: 5.06%
- Annual Passive Income: $506
Realty Income (NYSE:O), known as “The Monthly Dividend Company,” has delivered 113 consecutive quarterly dividend increases and owns more than 15,000 properties globally at 98.9% occupancy. The net lease structure means tenants cover most operating expenses, insulating cash flow from cost inflation at the property level.
The current monthly dividend is $0.270 per share, with the annualized rate at $3.24 per share. Management has guided 2026 AFFO to $4.38 to $4.42 per share and targets approximately $8 billion in new investment volume for the year, supported by a GIC partnership and the company’s first investment in Mexico.
EPR Properties
- Yield: 6.58%
- Annual Passive Income: $658
EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) is a publicly traded REIT focused on experiential real estate, including movie theatres, golf entertainment venues, waterparks, and education facilities. The portfolio is 99% leased, and full-year 2025 FFOAA per diluted share came in at $5.12, up 5.1% year over year.
EPR raised its monthly dividend to $0.31 per share effective March 2026, up from $0.295, with the annualized rate now at $3.72 per share. The company recently closed a $342 million acquisition of seven Six Flags regional amusement parks, and 2026 investment spending guidance of $400 million to $500 million signals continued portfolio expansion.
Main Street Capital
- Yield: 7.99%
- Annual Passive Income: $799
Main Street Capital (NYSE:MAIN) is a business development company that lends to and invests in lower middle market businesses. BDCs, like REITs, must distribute at least 90% of investment income to shareholders, which drives the elevated yield. Main Street reported a record NAV of $33.33 per share and a full-year return on equity of 17.1%. The yield calculation includes both the regular monthly dividend and consistent quarterly supplemental payments totaling $4.32 per share annually.
The regular monthly dividend is $0.26 per share, with supplemental dividends of $0.30 per quarter paid for 18 consecutive quarters, Q4 2025 distributable net investment income of $1.09 per share beat the $1.02 consensus estimate, and the operating expense ratio of 1.4% ranks among the lowest in the BDC sector.
AGNC Investment
- Yield: 13.20%
- Annual Passive Income: $1,320
AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) is a mortgage REIT that invests almost exclusively in Agency mortgage-backed securities backed by the U.S. government. That guarantee eliminates credit risk, but interest rate and MBS spread risk remain. Q1 2026 produced a net loss of $0.17 per share as Agency MBS spreads widened sharply in March due to geopolitical tensions, pushing tangible book value down 5.6% to $8.38 per share. Despite book value pressure, the dividend has held firm.
AGNC has paid a consistent $0.12 per share monthly dividend since January 2020, providing $1.44 annualized per share across more than six years without a cut. Core earnings rose to $0.42 per share in Q1 2026, up from $0.35 in Q4 2025, and the net interest spread widened 25 basis points to 2.06%.
The Combined Income Picture
Combined, these six positions generate $4,068 in annual passive income on a $60,000 investment, a blended yield of 6.78%. AGNC Investment contributes $1,320, Main Street Capital adds $799, EPR Properties delivers $658, Realty Income provides $506, Agree Realty contributes $406, and STAG Industrial rounds out the portfolio with $379.
Where real estate demands down payments, property management, and years to liquidate, this portfolio can be assembled in minutes and accessed instantly. The monthly payment cadence across all six names means income arrives every 30 days.
For those who reinvest rather than spend, each new share purchased begins generating its own income stream, and the compounding effect accelerates meaningfully over time.
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